Several methods are known for administering the collection of biological specimens and processing of same by a laboratory in order to assess the pathology, histology, toxicology, or other important attributes of the specimen of interest, while attempting to maintain the correct association of a given specimen to the donor of that specimen. These methods can include any number of process controls such as unique specimen numbering, clean laboratory technique, standardization of operating procedures, physical segregation, storage, and handling of specimens, and so on. These methods, however, necessarily place a heavy reliance on human handling and compliance, and are therefore susceptible to human error.
It is known, for example, that cases of accidentally switched specimens among cancer biopsy patients may result in misdiagnosis at rates approaching 1% of all cases. The ramifications of such errors are significant in that they can lead to dramatic treatments such as mastectomy or prostatectomy, for example, on patients who do not require these procedures, and conversely the neglected treatment of patients who are unaware of their malignant condition having been incorrectly diagnosed as benign.
A system for minimizing the introduction of human error into the handling and processing of biological specimens, and for providing further an independent means of biometrically confirming that a given specimen is from a given donor is highly desirable.